


smile

by bittermoons



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Fashion Designer Zuko, First Meetings, Fluff, Journalist Katara, M/M, Photographer Sokka, Sokka is a disaster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:13:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24898984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bittermoons/pseuds/bittermoons
Summary: The beginnings of a smile form on Zuko's face, and, damn, Sokka wants to capture it, frame it, and hang it in his living room above the TV and next to his plastic Mario Kart champion trophy. When archeologists dig up his overpriced shoebox of a studio apartment thousands of years from now, they'll know that Zuko was afinespecimen of a man."Okay," Zuko says. He puts on a black bomber with golden dragons printed all over.Sweet baby Jesus,it really accentuates his nice, broad shoulders. "Take it away, then."
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 38
Kudos: 479





	smile

**Author's Note:**

> Rated T for language and Sokka's blatant thirst. Enjoy!

"Ugh...where in the world is Suki? _Of course_ she disappears right when we need her."

Sokka fiddles with his camera settings and plays with the lighting setup. Suki, their model today, is fifteen minutes late, and ain't nobody got the time to sit here and wait all day.

"That's the fifth time you've complained in the past five minutes!" Katara pokes him with her pen as she takes more notes, and she smiles at the designer they're interviewing today, Zuko Lee. "Sorry about that. Sokka's just a little, um, upset—"

"I am _not_ upset, thank you very much. We broke up like three years ago, I'm just mad that she _clearly_ doesn't respect my time."

Katara thwacks him with her notepad. " _Your_ time? You weren't planning on doing anything else for the next week except for playing Mario Kart with Aang, weren't you?"

Someone chuckles, and Sokka looks up from his camera to see Zuko covering his mouth, eyes crinkling at the corners in amusement.

Holy crap. Sokka wants to use up all his camera's memory to take pictures of Zuko laughing like that. Zuko cuts a _fine_ figure despite the large burn scar on the left side of his face. The clean lines of his outfit—white sneakers with black dragon patterns on the sides, fitted jeans, simple white shirt with a few flames on the sleeves—all really scream that Zuko's the type of guy who wants you to look at his work and not him.

Sokka can get behind that.

 _Especially_ when the guy behind the cool clothes is such a looker.

The simple clothes accentuate his long, black hair, and _goddamn_ , Sokka is a sucker for those cheekbones and that sharp, sharp jaw that could cut diamonds. He thanks whatever deities are up there for making Zuko _so_ —

"Oh, hey. A text." Katara's phone lights up with a notification—a text from Suki.

"She's not going to make it in time," Katara reads. "Took forever getting through Customs, and a car crash is blocking up the road from the airport."

"Time to improvise, I guess." Sokka could do this. He was a real professional.

Looking around, well. There's him, Katara, and Zuko. Logically speaking (because Sokka is nothing but a man of logic, of course), who's the hottest one in the room?

Sokka raises and lowers his eyebrows. "How about Zuko model for us?" At Zuko's blank shock, Sokka waves his hands around. Damn. He sounds so creepy, even to himself. "As the photographer, I think it'd be great. The designer wearing his own clothes? People will _eat_ that _shit_ up."

"But what about my—" Zuko chews his lip, gesturing at the left side of his face.

Oh. The burn. That was probably why Zuko's social media rarely had photos of himself and why the media has called the streetwear designer 'mysterious' and 'unapproachable,' both of which are blatantly untrue. Sure he's a little awkward, but it's cute—Sokka curses his past self for not having the guts to try out a shitty pickup line and ask Zuko for his number during one of the many fashion shows he'd see him working at.

"Dude, it's good. You'll be _just fine._ Trust me on this one." Sokka makes a loose fist and taps twice above his heart. "Scout's honor."

The beginnings of a smile form on Zuko's face, and, damn, Sokka wants to capture it, frame it, and hang it in his living room above the TV and next to his plastic Mario Kart champion trophy. When archeologists dig up his overpriced shoebox of a studio apartment thousands of years from now, they'll know that Zuko was a _fine_ specimen of a man.

"Okay," Zuko says. He puts on a black bomber with golden dragons printed all over. _Sweet baby Jesus,_ it really accentuates his nice, broad shoulders. "Take it away, then."

  


* * *

  


“Right hand on your hip, and turn to the side... Yeah, like that.” Sokka snaps another photo. But Zuko still seems stiff on-camera, and his mouth is a hard line. “Dude, loosen up a bit. I don’t bite. Maybe Katara does, but not me.”

Katara taps her feet from next to the background. “Sokka, stop it.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” Zuko shakes his head. “I’m just—ah… not used to people _wanting_ to take pictures of my scar. Photographers usually angle it so it’s not as… visible.”

 _But you’re so fucking hot_ , _why would anyone do that?_

At Katara’s glare and Zuko’s rising blush, Sokka must’ve said that out loud.

“Uhh... forget I said anything,” Sokka says, only to be met with blank stares. “I didn’t say anything! Seriously!”

Zuko’s blush fades, and he chuckles. “If you say so.”

 _Perfect._ Sokka takes as many pictures as he can of Zuko mid-smile and from different angles, even as Zuko tries to cover up his mouth with a hand.

“That’s perfect,” Sokka says, letting his camera down. “I think we’ve got enough.”

Zuko lets out a breath, and he’s smiling at Sokka, and Sokka feels like he’s about to burst into flame at any moment. A man can only take so much hotness and adorableness at once, okay?

Katara clears her throat loudly and taps her watch. “That’s great, since we need to go to make our meeting with Ty Lee today back at the office.” She turns to Zuko. “Thanks for having us here!”

Katara tugs on Sokka’s arm, pulling him towards the exit, and Sokka’s upset that he’s chickening out _yet again_ —

“Uh… wait!” Zuko coughs, and Sokka turns around to find him in all his majestic golden-dragon black bomber jacket glory (like, holy hell, that man could be wearing a garbage bag and Sokka would think he’d be hot as fuck).

Zuko holds out a Post-It Note, takes a pen out of his pocket, and scribbles something on it before handing it to Sokka.

Sokka accepts it gingerly, and looks down to find a phone number. His mouth drops in a ‘O’.

“I’m free after the show next week.” Zuko tucks a few stray locks of his luscious hair behind his ears. 

Sokka gives him an emphatic thumbs-up as Katara’s eye twitches, and he waves at Zuko as they leave, clutching the Post-It to his chest and smiling like an idiot.

Looks like he’ll have plans besides playing Mario Kart with Aang next week.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I’ve been kinda blocked recently, and writing this was a helpful break for me. Fashion is so much fun and I (shockingly) have never written a fashion AU before this one. 
> 
> I debated between making Zuko’s last name either Lee or Wang (means king in Mandarin and is a hella common surname), but I couldn’t resist making it Lee XD
> 
> the jacket in question: [https://fanfreakz.com/products/black-with-chinese-style-dragon-gold-print-men-bomber-jacket](https://fanfreakz.com/products/black-with-chinese-style-dragon-gold-print-men-bomber-jacket)


End file.
